BEIJING| Human rights groups reacted angrily Friday to comments by Secretary
of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that she would not let thorny issues such
as human rights and Tibet prevent the United States and China from making
progress on climate change, security and economic matters.

As she began her trip at the beginning of the week, Mrs. Clinton said
that human rights are "part of our agenda with the Chinese, as is climate
change and clean energy and nuclear nonproliferation and dealing with the
North Korean denuclearization challenge."

But on Friday she told reporters traveling with her that issues of human
rights and religious freedom "can't interfere with the global economic
crisis, the global climate change crisis and security crises. We have to
have a dialogue that leads to an understanding and cooperation on each
of those."

The shift in emphasis upset rights organizations.

"The United States is one of the only countries that can meaningfully
stand up to China on human rights issues," said T. Kumar, Amnesty International's
advocacy director for Asia and the Pacific. "But by commenting that human
rights will not interfere with other priorities, Secretary Clinton damages
future U.S. initiatives to protect those rights in China."

Human Rights Watch said that Mrs. Clinton's remarks sent "the wrong
message to the Chinese government."

The comments "point to a diplomatic strategy that has worked well for
the Chinese government segregating human rights issues into a dead-end
'dialogue of the deaf,'" said Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director
for the group. "A new approach is needed, one in which the U.S. engages
China on the critical importance of human rights to a wide range of mutual
security interests."

Regarding rights issues, Mrs. Clinton told reporters that the Chinese
already "know what we are going to say."

"We know we are going to press them to reconsider their position about
Tibetan religious and cultural freedom and autonomy for the Tibetans, and
some kind of recognition or acknowledgment of the Dalai Lama. I have had
those conversations for more than a decade with Chinese leaders, and we
know what they are going to say about Taiwan and military sales."

Neither side is likely to change its position soon, so it might be better
to focus on areas where both countries agree and can cooperate, she said.

China is the last of four countries Mrs. Clinton was visiting during
her first overseas trip since taking office. Before she left Washington,
several major human rights organizations, including Amnesty and Human Rights
Watch, had urged her to put rights issues at the top of her agenda.

One of Mrs. Clinton's most memorable speeches as first lady, during
her husband's presidency, was delivered at the U.N. Conference on Women
in Beijing in 1995. As she recalled during a town hall meeting in Seoul
on Friday, she said at the time that women's rights are human rights. The
Chinese authorities were so angered that they cut off live TV coverage
of the event.

During her visit to China, Mrs. Clinton plans to attend a church service
on Sunday morning. She is also scheduled to meet with President Hu Jintao
and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao. She will seek their help in restarting six-country
negotiations to get North Korea to give up nuclear weapons.